Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Thoughts on the Nobel Peace Prize

Tun Mahathir, former Malaysian Prime Minister and well known for his anti-semitic and anti-west rhetoric, received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. So what, one might ask. Adolf Hitler was nominated. So were Stalin and Musolini. Mikail Gorbachev, and Yasser Arafat even won the prize!

If you look at the list of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, many of them do not even deserve to win anything, let alone a Nobel Peace Prize. People who really made a difference, who should have recieved the prize were never even nominated! Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind. How about Pope John Paul II?

Al Gore, former Vice President of the USA, was also nominated for this year's prize. Nominated for "his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming". What a lot of crock!Rush Limbaugh, my favorite talk show host, was also nominated for the 2007 peace prize. He was nominated because "everyday he gives voice to the values of democratic governance, individual opportunity and the just, equal application of the rule of law -- and it is fitting that the Nobel Committee recognize the power of these ideals to build a truly peaceful world for future generations." Now this nomination, I whole heartedly endorse! If the likes of Arafat and Gorbachev can win a peace prize, Limbaugh should win one too!

My point is, it is not hard to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the rules of the nomination, people like "university chancellors; university professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology;leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs;" can submit names to be nominated.

Back to Tun M's nomination. If he ends up winning the prize, I can just hear the howls of "Malaysia Boleh"!